(Original post by MikeySwansea)
And how is that relevant to what the OP's trying to find out?

If you add in a "Didn't apply to oxbridge and was rejected from St Andrews" option as well then you can see if a higher percentage of people who didn't apply to oxbridge got accepted when compared to people who applied to both.

I know lots of people here who got rejected by Oxbridge but got into St Andrews (including me). Equally I know lots who didn't apply to Oxbridge and got into St Andrews. Applying to Oxbridge does not affect your St Andrews application.

(Original post by Caranthirion)
St Andrews is near-Oxbridge level only for some subjects. Many of the other applicants would prefer Warwick, Imperial, UCL, Durham or LSE.

I am simply wondering why they would reject a top applicant with a perfect academic record and instead give an offer to someone who has scored far below him/her?

Maybe because they look for more than grades? Oxbridge can interview, so for some of the smaller subjects, they interview nearly all candidates, so a quick glance at their PS is enough, so see whether they are half decently interested in their subject. Then in the interview applicants can show much more of themselves. But another uni might only have your application, and if your PS is not as well-tailored to their course, they can get the impression that you don't know what your applying for and that another applicant will be better suited for their department.

(Original post by Caranthirion)
St Andrews is near-Oxbridge level only for some subjects. Many of the other applicants would prefer Warwick, Imperial, UCL, Durham or LSE.

I am simply wondering why they would reject a top applicant with a perfect academic record and instead give an offer to someone who has scored far below him/her?

The assumption is that someone else has scored below them, this doesn't need to be true. Someone could have top grades and not apply to Oxbridge. And there's still the case that St Andrews has far less places available than Oxbridge(although may make more offers.)